Mattress handle



April 14, 1959 M. BECHIK 2,881,451

MATTRESS HANDLE Filedeb. 7, 195s United States Patent O MATTRESS HANDLEMichael Bechik, St. Paul, Minn., assignor to Bechik Products Inc., St.Paul, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Application February 7, 1958,Serial No. 713,961 2 Claims. (Cl. 5-345) My invention relates to handlesfor mattresses and the like and more particularly to mattress handles ofthe type not having either a exible or rigid back bar secured to theinner surface of the mattress wall, such as shown in my Patents2,105,580 and 2,703,415 respectively.

In handles of this character, because of the omission of the back bar,considerably more stress is placed upon the mattress wall during liftingmovements through the medium of the handle secured to and overlying theouter surface of the mattress wall. Consequently, it is not uncommon forthe mattress wall to be pulled away from the hollow grommets whichsecure the handle to the mattress wall. Particularly is this true wherethe handle is formed from exible material.

The primary object of my invention is the provision of a handle formattresses and the like which is formed from flexible material, whichomits either the rigid or exible back bar, but which substantiallyeliminates any tendency of the mattress wall to pull away from thehollow rivets or grommets during lifting movements.

A further object of my invention is the combination of a compressiblemattress wall and a exible handle cornprising an elongated grasping baradapted to overlie the mattress and having enlarged apertured mountingframes on its opposite ends, grommets extending snugly through saidapertures and openings in said mattress wall, said grommets being formedat their axially outer ends to provide radially outwardly projectingannular anchoring anges which overlie adjacent portions of the frames,the inner surface of said mounting frames adjacent said wall definingrelatively narrow spaced concentric annular pressure anges about saidapertures, annular anchoring washers on the axially inner ends of saidgrommets over lying the inner surface of said wall, said washersoverlying said flanges, the axially inner end of each grommet overlyinga portion of a cooperating washer and tightly compressing said walltherebetween and said anges while permitting said wall to expand withinthe channel defined by said flanges.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a device of theclass immediately above described in which .said handle is formed fromrelatively soft plastic material,

such as polyethylene, the surface of which has a relatively highcoeflicient of friction.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a device of theclass described which is extremely inexpensive to produce, which isextremely easy to install, and which is durable and foolproof.

The above and still further objects of my invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed specification, appended claims and attacheddrawings.

Referring to the drawings wherein like characters indicate like partsthroughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is a View in front elevation of my novel structure;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially onthe line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Patented Apr. 14, 1959 lee Fig. 3 is a view in rear elevation as seenfrom the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in perspective showing my novel handleattached to the side wall thereof; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of one end portion of my novelhandle showing the back construction.

Referring with greater particularity to the drawings, the numeral 1indicates in its entirety a mattress, the side wall of which isidentified by the numeral 2. My novel handle, preferably formed fromsuch relatively soft plastic material as polyethylene and which is knownto present a surface having a relatively high coeicient of friction,comprises an elongated grasping bar 3 adapted to overlie the wall 2 andhaving enlarged apertured mounting frames 4 at its opposite ends. Thegrommets 5 are snugly received within and extend through the openings 6in the mounting frames 4 and through openings 7 in the wall of themattress, one each aligned with one of the openings 6. At their axiallyouter ends, the grommets 5 are flared outwardly to provide an annularanchoring flange 8 to which, preferably and as shown, is secured aperforate Ventilating cap 9. As shown particularly in Fig. 2, theanchoring flanges 8 and peripheral edge portions of the Ventilating cap9 carried thereby overlie an outer portion of their respective mountingframes 4, as indicated by the numeral 10, thereby limiting radiallyinward movement of the grommets 5 with respect to said mounting frames 4and the mattress wall 2.

As shown by Figs. 2 and 5, the inner or under portions of the mountingframes 4 are formed to provide spaced concentric radially inner andradially outer annular flanges 11 and 11a respectively which define anaxially outwardly opening channel 12 therebetween. Preferably and asshown particularly in Fig. 5, circumferentially spaced radiallyextending ribs 12a connect the flanges 11, 11a and break up the channels12 into segmental channel sections 12b.

Annular washers 13 are received over the inner ends of the grommets 5and are tightly clamped into engagement with the inner surface 14 of thewall 2 by outwardly and backwardly rolling the extreme inner edges ofthe grommets 5 as indicated by the numeral 15. Preferably, this rollededge 15 is formed in a suitable die. It will be seen that the washers 13extend radially outwardly from the grommets 5 so as to completelyoverlie the anges 11, 11a and the channels 12 therebetween. By thisnovel arrangement, it will be seen that the mattress wall 2 is highlycompressed intermediate the washers 13 and the underlying ilanges 11,11a, whereas said wall 2 is allowed to expand within the segmentalchannel sections 12b. This arrangement practically eliminates anypossibility of the mattress wall 2 pulling out from between the washers13 and the undersurfaces of the mounting frames 4. Particularly is thistrue when soft plastic material, such as polyethylene, the surface ofwhich presents a relatively high coeflicient of friction, is used.

My invention has been thoroughly tested and found to be completelysatisfactory for the accomplishment of the above objects and while Ihave shown a preferred embodiment thereof, I wish it to be understoodthat same is capable of modification without departure from the scopeand spirit of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with a compressible mattress wall, a handle comprisingan elongated grasping bar adapted to overlie said wall and havingenlarged apertured mounting frames on its opposite ends engaging theouter surface of said wall, grommets extending snugly through saidapertures and through openings in said wall, said grommets being formedat their axially outer ends to provide radially outwardly projectingannular anchoring flanges which overlie adjacent portions of saidframes, the inner surfacer of said mounting frames adjacent said wallbeing for-med to provide radially spaced concentric narrow flanges aboutYsaid openings which defme therebetween channels which openl axially nthe direction of said mattress wall, annular anchoring washers on theaxially inner endsl of said grommets engaging the inner surface of saidwall, said washers underlying said anges and the channels formedthereby, an axially inner end of each grommet overlying a portion of acooperating washer and tightly compressing said wall therebetween andsaid anges while permitting said wall to expand within the channelsformedA thereby.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,355,200 Bechik f 2 Aug. s, 1944 10 2,359,193 Bec-hik sept. 26, 19442,703,415 Bechik Mar. s, 1955

